On November 18 four winners were announced for the 2002 National
Awards for Smart Growth Achievement at the National Building Museum
in Washington, DC. This Award recognizes outstanding achievement
in smart growth by state, local or regional governments in four
categories: Built Projects, Policies and Regulation, Community Outreach
and Education, and Overall Excellence in Smart Growth.

For information about each winner, click on the organization's name above.

EPA has also published a document with a brief case study of each winner and
other information about the awards program. Click here to download the complete
2002 Awards publication (PDF)(16 pp, 1.4 MB, About PDF).

Arlington's planning approach places dense, mixed-use, infill
development at five Metro stations and tapers it down to
residential neighborhoods. The result? Over 21 million
square feet of office/retail/commercial space, 3,000+ hotel
rooms, and 22,500 residential units creating vibrant "urban
villages" where people live, shop,work and play using transit,
pedestrian walkways, bicycles or cars.

This aerial photo demonstrates
the effectiveness
of Arlington's approach
around the Rosslyn and
Court House stations.
It also shows that smart
growth results in a wide
range of housing types
from apartments and
condos to townhouses
and single-family
detached homes.

Arlington County uses smart growth principles to generate
residential, retail and recreational development around
the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor of Metro stations. The corridor
includes five stations: Rosslyn, Court House, Clarendon,
Virginia Square, and Ballston. Arlington adopted a General
Land Use Plan (GLUP) to concentrate dense, mixed-use
development at the stations and developed sector plans to
ensure that each station maintained a distinct sense of
community. Incentive zoning is used to attract private sector
transit-oriented development.

The sector plans set goals for type of use, open space, infrastructure
and design. Each plan focuses growth within a walkable
radius of the stations, and preserves established neighborhoods
and natural areas. Arlington's urban villages emphasize pedestrian
access and safety, and incorporate public art, "pocket"
parks, wide sidewalks with restaurant seating, bike lanes, street
trees, traffic calming, and street-level retail. A site plan review
links goals in the GLUP with details of each proposed project.

Metro station locations and the GLUP continue to guide
development. Between 1999 and 2002, the corridor gained
2,500 apartments and condos, 1.5 million square feet of
office space, 379,000 square feet of retail space, and five
miles of bike lanes. The corridor is so popular that preserving
affordable housing is a challenge. In 2001, Arlington adopted
an expanded bonus density provision for development of
affordable housing, allowing up to 25 percent more density.

The transit successes and corresponding environmental performance
are impressive. Metro ridership doubled in the corridor
between 1991 and 2002. Nearly 50 percent of corridor residents
use transit to commute. As of the end of 2001, the corridor has
over 18.3 million square feet of office space, 3.4 million square
feet of retail/commercial space, over 3,000 hotel rooms, and
22,500 residential units - with much more under construction.
Creating this development at typical suburban densities
could consume over 14 square miles of open space compared
to the roughly two square mile Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.

Highlights

The Corridor as a Model
Many of Arlington's policies and procedures
could be implemented in other communities.
Planning density around Metro stops is a
model for directing growth to new or existing
transit corridors while protecting older
neighborhoods and natural areas. When
residents are involved in developing plans,
they are more likely to support density at the
stations and the amenities it can provide for
the neighborhood.

Developing Community
Community partnerships such as the Ballston
Partnership, Clarendon Alliance, and Rosslyn
Renaissance ensure full and active participation
by citizens and businesses in nearly all
public and private development and policy
decisions. The County solicits citizen input
through over 40 Board-appointed County
Commissions and nearly 60 neighborhood
civic associations. Arlington uses a comprehensive
site plan review process including
public meetings with staff, citizens, County
Commissions, and developers.

"Arlington County has
maintained its political
and economic commitment
to transit-oriented
redevelopment for three
decades. Residents support
the smart growth program
because they participate
in developing plans and
reviewing projects, pay low
taxes thanks to the strong
commercial tax base, and
enjoy the convenient shops,
services and transit."- Carrie Johnson,
Member of Arlington County
Planning Commission
and long-time resident

Stuart Park, located across the street from the Ballston Metro
Station and flanked by offices and apartment buildings with street
level retail, is popular with area residents and employees.

For More InformationRobert Brosman (Rbrosman@co.arlington.va.us)
Planning Director
Arlington County
Department of Community Planning,
Housing, and Development
Tel: 703-228-3516

The Wellington Neighborhood in Breckenridge,
Colorado provides affordable and market-rate
housing on a site that was once dredge-mined.
The project recycles land, creates housing for
working families, provides a free transit shuttle
to the nearby downtown, and helps the region
avoid "mountain sprawl."

Wellington's houses are
clustered together in
groups of ten and feature
front porches and rear
alleys. Clustering of homes
allows the neighborhood
to preserve public open
space and trails.

Locals who work in the historic resort town of Breckenridge
were being squeezed out of the area by median costs of
$725,000 for a single-family home. For many workers, the
American Dream was only available across Hoosier Pass, a 45-
minute commute over treacherous mountain roads. Meanwhile,
an 85-acre site in French Gulch on the town's outskirts sat amid
hundreds of acres spoiled by mining, and the zoning allowed
only four homes.

Breckenridge has reclaimed 22 acres of this brownfield site to
develop the Wellington Neighborhood, a compact community
built in the style of traditional neighborhoods with attractive
and affordable homes. Fifty-eight of 122 approved homes have
been constructed. Another 20 acres is preserved as open space
or community parks. The project was planned in two stages:
first, the French Gulch Remediation Opportunities Group
(FROG), composed of citizens, property owners, the Colorado
Department of Public Health, and EPA officials, worked for
several years with the Keystone Center, a non-profit environ-mental
mediation group, to prioritize clean-up actions and
funding. Second, Breckenridge officials and residents worked
together over four years to plan and design the neighborhood.

The Breckenridge Planning Department encouraged Wellington's
traditional neighborhood design through flexible zoning for housing
setbacks (closer to the street), road widths (narrower), and lot
sizes (smaller). Housing affordability is ensured through covenants
to keep homes affordable for future generations. Streamlined
purchaser qualification standards facilitate transactions and
reduce administrative requirements. The project was funded in
part with public sector incentives worth more than $1 million,
as well as a U.S. EPA and Colorado Department of Public
Health and Environment "Prospective Purchaser Agreement"
that partially funded the clean-up and wetland reclamation.

Using smart growth principles, Wellington has increased the
supply of affordable housing, cleaned a contaminated site, and
created a compact, walkable neighborhood with access to trails
and open space. Eighty percent of homes are reserved for purchase
by people who work in Summit County, at about one-third
(or less) the cost of the median purchase price in Breckenridge.
Wellington's location near downtown Breckenridge places
housing near job centers, reducing commute times and related
emissions. New homeowners include the town manager, government
employees, shop owners, teachers and police officers.

Highlights

A Good Model
The Wellington Neighborhood serves as a
model for design, planning, development,
construction, and community participation.
This project has particular relevance to
communities in resort or "gateway" towns
where affordable housing for permanent residents
is scarce. Wellington's design/planning
team also used this model for a low-income
housing community in Boulder and
hopes to expand the concept into other
mountain communities in Colorado.

Community and Access
Wellington residents enjoy the strong community
that has developed in a short time.
Fostering this sense of place is architecture
that complements both human scale and
historic setting. Wellington's compact plan
includes public greens and connections that
create a safe and appealing environment for
outdoor play, bicycling, and pedestrians.
Free public transportation links Wellington
to downtown and ski areas. Residents enjoy
easy access to trails and thousands of acres
of open space.

"You've got to find ways to
keep the police officers, the
teachers, the managers in the
community..These people
are both the economic engine
and the soul of the town.
There's nothing else like the
Wellington Neighborhood in
the county and not much else
like it in the whole country." -
Sam Mamula, Mayor of Breckenridge

The Wellington Neighborhood sits atop land
reclaimed from the Wellington-Oro Mine, which
produced gold, silver, and lead until 1972. The site
contained 30-foot high piles of river rock.

For More InformationPeter Grosshuesch (peterg@ci.breckenridge.co.us)
Planning Director
Town of Breckenridge
Tel: 970-453-3162

City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County - National Award for Smart Growth Achievement - 2002 Winners Presentation

Category: Policies and RegulationsProject: Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Incentive Program

San Mateo's TOD Incentive Program uses transportation
funds to help communities that build more housing near rail
stations. It spurs construction of needed housing and
creates environmental benefits by giving people the option of commuting and running errands by rail.
This program directly links land use with efficient
use of the existing transportation system.

Construction underway on Phase 1 of the Franklin
Street project, which will provide 206 residential
units at the Redwood City Caltrain Station.

In California and in local governments across the country,
land use decisions often focus on maximizing sales tax revenue
to balance budgets. This creates a greater incentive to build
office and retail space but creates a disincentive to construct
housing. As jobs and housing spread out, the transportation
system can become overburdened. Modeling showed that
San Mateo County could reduce congestion by locating more
housing near transit stations, giving people easy access to rail.

To address a housing shortfall, reduce congestion, and
improve environmental quality, the City/County Association
of Governments of San Mateo County (C/CAG) provides
incentives for land use agencies (20 constituent cities as well
as the county) to create housing near transit stations. C/CAG
allocates up to 10 percent of State Transportation Improvement
Program funds for the San Mateo County TOD Incentive
Program. The program provides a financial incentive for local
land use authorities to develop housing near transit stations.

Under the program, a jurisdiction receives incentive funds based
on the number of bedrooms in the housing units. Typically, eligible projects receive up to $2,000 per bedroom. In order to
be eligible for the program, housing must be within one-third
of a mile of a rail transit station, and density must be at least
40 units per acre. In the event that the program is oversubscribed,
C/CAG may reduce the funding per bedroom or provide
additional funding to the program. Land use agencies only get
the funding once the units are built or are under construction.
Funds are then used to support improvements either on- or
off-site as determined by the land use agency. In addition to
direct transportation improvements, some general improvements
such as landscaping, lighting, sidewalks, plazas, and
recreational projects are allowed.

For the first cycle, October 1999 to September 2001, C/CAG
programmed $2.3 million to the TOD Incentive Program to
support development of 1,282 bedrooms in five projects. The
second cycle, February 2002 to February 2004, has programmed
over $2.9 million for 10 projects to facilitate the creation of
2,407 bedrooms.

Highlights

Interest from Other Jurisdictions
The success of C/CAG's TOD Incentive
Program has encouraged other jurisdictions
to implement similar programs. The
Metropolitan Transportation Commission,
the metropolitan planning organization for
the San Francisco Bay Area, adopted a
Housing Incentive Program based on
C/CAG's model. Legislation being considered
at the state level would create a similar pro-gram.
Sacramento, Fresno, and Monterey
Counties (in California) are also considering
similar programs.

Integration with Transportation
Planning
The TOD Incentive Program recognizes that
coordinating land use and transportation is
critical to achieving an efficient transportation
system and making the best use of tax
dollars. C/CAG's approach is an innovative
use of transportation funds that provides
incentives to land use decision-makers to
achieve transit-oriented development.

" Redwood City is proud
to have received the first-ever
TOD Incentive
grant from C/CAG for
Franklin Project Phase I.
This project has been
well received by the
community and will
provide 206 new
residential units,
including 31 affordable
units, and convenient
retail - all within
walking distance to the
Caltrain Station and
Downtown District
employment/services. " -
Maureen Riordan,
Senior Planner,
City of Redwood City

Phase 1 of the Franklin Street Project, near completion. The
project received $1.2 million in TOD Incentive Program funds.

For More InformationRichard Napier (rnapier@co.sanmateo.ca.us)
Executive Director
City/County Association of
Governments of San Mateo County
Tel: 650-599-1420

Category: Community Outreach and EducationProject: Community Preservation Initiative

The Massachusetts Community Preservation Initiative is
a statewide smart growth program that helps municipal
officials and community leaders understand the potential
effects of future growth. It provides tools, technical
assistance and outreach to encourage informed and
balanced growth decisions.

This buildout map shows
development constraints on
Martha's Vineyard. Under
the CPI, buildout maps
were created for all 351
communities in the state.

The Community Preservation Initiative (CPI) was developed
by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental
Affairs to create a constituency of residents and elected officials
who support and implement smart growth. CPI's philosophy is
that planning is not just for professionals and that all residents
should play a role in shaping their collective future. CPI encourages
communities to grow where infrastructure already exists,
redevelop urban areas, and utilize density to offset pressures on
open space.

Under CPI, the state provides tools to help communities see
the effects of growth and make more informed choices. CPI
created 351 buildout maps, one for each community in the
state, to illustrate how a community is currently zoned and the
quantity and location of land available for development. CPI has
presented buildout maps in three venues: to every community's
Board of Selectmen or City Council; at 20 Summits of
up to 150 people from up to 20 communities, and at six
"SuperSummits" of up to 300 people each. The buildout
maps have inspired many communities to change their bylaws
and zoning to better support the type of growth they want in
their communities and to enhance environmental protection.

An innovative aspect of CPI is the release of two software tools
to help communities make informed choices. The Fiscal Impact
Tool analyzes financial implications of development scenarios
and the Alternative Futures Tool enables a user to analyze a
variety of buildout scenarios by altering zoning. Other high-lights
of CPI's outreach efforts include making over 120 presentations
about the state-wide Community Preservation Act
(CPA), under which communities can adopt a surcharge on
local property levies and receive up to a 100 percent state
match, and creating a high quality web site.

Partners in CPI include about 60 organizations representing
affordable housing, historic preservation and open space
interests, who help educate the public about the CPA through
workshops, conferences, and the web. CPI also partners with
state agencies, including the Department of Housing and
Community Development, Executive Office of Transportation
and Construction, and Department of Economic
Development.

Highlights

Academic Partnership Reaches New Leaders
In collaboration with the University of Massachusetts, CPI created the Community Preservation Institute to teach community leaders more about implementing community preservation efforts. The Institute has grown from one to five campuses in 18 months. More than 125 graduates have passed through the nine-week program, creating a growing network of empowered community leaders.

Education, Not Regulation
The Community Preservation Initiative
emphasizes education, not regulation. For
example, in concert with other state agency
partners, CPI grants up to $30,000 in
planning assistance to communities seeking
to establish and develop Community
Development Planning Programs, based
on the content of the buildout project.
So far, 200 communities have signed up
to utilize these grants to develop plans for
community growth, to update master
plans, or begin plan implementation.

Melrose residents at a community summit
discuss preservation and growth. Such
summits allow residents and stakeholders
to exchange ideas about the community
and develop a common vision for its future.

CPI tools and programs help towns plan for
future growth and preservation of community
assets. The Old Town Hall in Bedford will be
preserved thanks to funding made available
through the Community Preservation Act.